California Apparel News

In May, Los Angeles–headquartered fashion-technology firm Tukatech Inc. introduced its latest version of the TUKA3D Designer Edition. This 3D visualizer provides designers with templates for computer-animated garments that can help designers work on clothes digitally, said Rialyn Espinosa, a 3D CAD specialist at Tukatech. It has provided a new way of working compared to working with sketches.

“A lot of designers are realizing 3D is the way to go forward in fashion design. There is no need to create flat sketches for visualizing and creating storyboards. Simply start with a blank 3D canvas, select an asset from the library and play with the artwork until you like what you see, then share the rendering in place of a sketch or physical sample,” Espinosa said.

The Tukatech program also gives tools for sizing. The 3D images of clothing can come in different sizes, which will help give designers a highly accurate idea of how a garment will appear in the physical world, Espinosa said.

Tukatech recently announced that the premium-blanks company Cotton Heritage, headquartered in Commerce, Calif., was working with the 3D visualizer. Nikhil Sachdeva, Cotton Heritage’s marketing manager, said that the 3D visualizer has served as a way for his customers to demonstrate how their graphics and designs look on a Cotton Heritage blank. “This was made for the customers in mind,” Sachdeva said. “It enables them to sell to their customers.”

Cotton Heritage uploaded templates to the 3D visualizer for several of its best-selling blanks, such as the MC1082, a short-sleeve crew-neck T-shirt, and the LC 1026, a boyfriend T-shirt. Cotton Heritage’s clients can then use the visualizer’s tools to make a model of how their designs would look on a Cotton Heritage blank, Sachdeva said.

“It gives a total 3D view of the garment and shows what it will look like,” he said. “You can see where the curves are on the garment. It’s a more powerful tool than just using flats.”